Species Acrobates pygmaeus (Shaw, 1794)
Feathertail Glider
- Didelphis pygmaea Shaw, G. 1794. Zoology of New Holland. London : J. Sowerby. [5].
Type data:
Lectotype BMNH 1883.3.17.1 ♂, vicinity of Sydney, NSW (as New South Wales).Type locality references:
Iredale, T. & Troughton, E. le G. 1934. A check-list of the mammals recorded from Australia. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 6: i-xii 1-122. - Acrobates pulchellus Rothschild, W. 1892. Descriptions of two new mammals from New Guinea. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1892: 545-546 [Dec. 1892] [546] [considered by Tate, G.H.H. 1938. New or little known marsupials: a new species of Phascogalinae, with notes upon Acrobates pulchellus Rothschild. Novit. Zool. 41: 58–60 to have been based on a pet animal].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 1939.2988 adult skin & skull, not known; said to be from one of the small islands in northern Dutch New Guinea.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- McKay, G.M. 1988. Burramyidae. pp. 98-102 in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia Volume 5. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service x 274 pp. [99] (based on Tate, G.H.H. 1938. New or little known marsupials: a new species of Phascogalinae, with notes upon Acrobates pulchellus Rothschild. Novit. Zool. 41: 58–60)
Generic Combinations
- Acrobates pygmaeus (Shaw, 1794).
Distribution
States
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria
IBRA
ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)
Ecological Descriptors
Arboreal, glider, gregarious, mellivore, open forest, predator, sap-feeder, subtropical, tree holes, woodland.
General References
Braithwaite, L.W., Binns, D.L. & Nowlan, R.D. 1988. The distribution of arboreal marsupials in relation to eucalypt forest types in the Eden (NSW) Woodchip Concession Area. Australian Wildlife Research 15: 363-373
Fleming, M.R. 1985. The thermal physiology of the feathertail glider, Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 33: 667-681
Fleming, M.R. & Frey, H. 1984. Aspects of the natural history of Feathertail gliders (Acrobates pygmaeus) in Victoria. pp. 403-408 in Smith, A. & Hume, I. (eds). Possums and Gliders. Sydney : Surrey Beatty & Sons, Australian Mammal Society 598 pp.
Frey, H. & Fleming, M.R. 1984. Torpor and thermoregulatory behaviour in free-ranging feathertail gliders (Acrobates pygmaeus) (Marsupialia, Burramyidae) in Victoria. pp. 393-401 in Smith, A. & Hume, I. (eds). Possums and Gliders. Sydney : Surrey Beatty & Sons, Australian Mammal Society 598 pp.
Goldingay, R. & Kavanagh, R.P. 1995. Foraging behaviour and habitat use of the feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus) at Waratah Creek, New South Wales. Wildlife Research 22: 457-470
Goldingay, R.L. & Kavanagh, R.P. 1988. Detectability of the feathertail glider, Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae), in relation to measured weather variables. Australian Mammalogy 11: 67-70
Huang, C., Ward, S. & Lee, A.K. 1987. Comparison of the diets of the feathertail glider, Acrobates pygmaeus, and the eastern pygmy possum, Cercartetus nanus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae) in sympatry. Australian Mammalogy 10: 47-50
Johnson-Murray, J.L. 1987. The comparative myology of the gliding membranes of Acrobates, Petauroides and Petaurus contrasted with the cutaneous myology of Hemibelideus and Pseudocheirus (Marsupialia: Phalangeridae) and with selected gliding Rodentia (Sciuridae and Anomaluridae). Australian Journal of Zoology 35: 101-113
Jones, C.J. & Geiser, F. 1992. Prolonged daily torpor in the feathertail glider, Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia: Acrobatidae). Journal of Zoology, London 227: 101-108
Lindenmayer, D.B. & Cunningham, R.B. 1997. Patterns of co-occurrence among marsupials in the forests of central Victoria, southeastern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 22: 340-346
McCulloch, E.M. & Thompson, W.M. 1987. Forest raven takes feather-tailed glider. Australian Bird Watcher 12: 99
Parrott, M.L., Ward, S.J. & Taggart, D.A. 2005. Multiple paternity and communal maternal care in the feathertail glider, Acrobates pygmaeus. Australian Journal of Zoology 53: 79-85
Rosenberg, H.I. & Rose, R. 1999. Volar adhesive pads of the feathertail glider, Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia: Acrobatidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 77: 233-248
Rowley, I. 1989. Predation of feather-tailed glider by grey shrike-thrushes. Australian Bird Watcher 13: 126
Turner, V. 1984. Eucalyptus pollen in the diet of the feathertail glider Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae). Australian Wildlife Research 11: 77-81
Ward, S.J. 1990. Life history of the feathertail glider, Acrobates pygmaeus (Acrobatidae: Marsupialia) in southeastern Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 38: 503-517
Ward, S.J. 2000. The efficiency of nestboxes versus spotlighting for detecting feathertail gliders. Wildlife Research 27: 75-79
Ward, S.J. & Renfree, M.B. 1988. Reproduction in females of the feathertail glider Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia). Journal of Zoology, London 216: 225-239
Ward, S.J. & Renfree, M.B. 1988. Reproduction in males of the feathertail glider Acrobates pygmaeus (Marsupialia). Journal of Zoology, London 216: 241-251
Woodside, D.P. 1995. Feathertail glider Acrobates pygmaeus. pp. 262-264 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.
Common Name References
ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Feathertail Glider)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04-Feb-2023 | ACROBATIDAE | 16-Nov-2022 | MODIFIED | |
| 29-Oct-2010 | 29-Oct-2010 | MOVED | ||
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |